‘He is an example of great determination’: ‘World’s greatest living explorer’ Ranulph Fiennes praises British adventurer who walked 1,500 miles across Mongolia ALONE

The world-renowned explorer who was first to reach both poles has praised a young British adventurer for becoming the first person to walk 1,500 miles solo across Mongolia.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, dubbed by the Guinness Book of Records the ‘world’s greatest living explorer’, said Ash Dykes was one of the last ‘adventuring firsts’.

Dykes, 23, strolled into the record books after spending 78 days alone crossing the unforgiving land of the high Altai Mountains, scorching Gobi Desert and the seemingly-endless Mongolian Steppe.

He battled raging sandstorms, heat exhaustion and the unrelenting loneliness of crossing the world’s most sparsely populated country at walking pace.

Word even spread among the local Mongols about the strange foreigner walking across the country – and the young Welshman was soon nicknamed the ‘lonely snow leopard’.

Sir Ranulph, who was the first to cross the Antarctic and Artic Ocean, and the first to circumnavigate the world along its polar axis, said it was ‘an example of great determination’.

He said: ‘I applaud every endeavour to achieve an adventuring “first” – a feat which is becoming harder all the time.’

He added: ‘This young man’s completion of a “first” solo trek across Mongolia, from the Altai to the Steppe, will have proved both physically and mentally challenging and is an example of great determination.’

Ash, from Colwyn Bay, North Wales, became the first known person to walk from Mongolia’s western border with Russia to it’s easterly border with China.

After completing his record-breaking trek on August 6, he said: ‘It is an absolutely unreal feeling. It still hasn’t really sunk in, it feels surreal.

‘I haven’t had the time to fully reflect. I have done what a lot of people said would be impossible.’

Ash dragged an 18-stone, homemade trailer behind him all the way from the small settlement of Olggi in the west to the town of Choybalsan in the east.

It carried the dehydrated food ration packs, large water butt and camping equipment he needed on his trek through the brutal terrain.

His longest day of walking saw him on his feet for 14 hours as he covered 34 miles. And he reached a peak altitude of 8850ft along the way.

Mongolia is the second-largest landlocked country on earth at 603,930 square miles and the most sparsely populated with only 3,133,318 people – averaging just 5.19 people to every one square mile.

And Ash had to fight the loneliness of walking alone and keep focused on the goal of reaching his destination.

The scuba dive instructor said: ‘It was sometimes difficult leaving a really nice family in a small settlement or isolated yurt to face the extreme conditions alone all over again.

‘At one point I walked for around eight days without seeing a single soul. But I was so determined to make it that I didn’t let it bother me too much.

‘The thought of returning home and people saying: “Aww, you tried your best”, frightened me the most and kept me going strong until the end!’

The young adventurer suffered severe heat exhaustion while crossing the Gobi Desert but he said the kindness of locals and nomads often helped him find shelter from the barren landscape.

He said: ‘Daily temperatures were in excess of 40C and there was nowhere to escape the sun or heat, no wind or shade – even the sand was scorched.

‘I managed to find a small settlement where I rested several days before regaining my strength, in order to continue.’

This isn’t the first adventure Ash has tackled, having traversed the Himalayas and cycled the length of Vietnam, but he said it was by far his most challenging and rewarding.

He said: ‘There have been so many unforgettable experiences on this trek it is impossible to list them all.

‘The storms, as frightening as they were when you were in the centre of them, were unbelievable to witness.

‘Throughout the expedition I felt privileged to see the country first hand and witness its diverse landscape and unpredictable climate.

‘The locals were always keen to communicate, although mainly by gestures due to their lack of English and my complete lack of Mongolian.